1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to devices and methods for dispensing medication, and more particularly to a liquid medication dispenser apparatus that monitors compliance with a treatment plan and determines a compliance score indicative of whether the liquid medication was dispensed at predetermined times and at predetermined dose levels.
2. Description of the Background Art
Medication recipients frequently need to take a set dose of medication or medications at regular intervals of time. Failure by persons to take the required medication dosages at the appropriate time intervals results in incorrect blood serum levels of the medication, and can ultimately lead to unfavorable clinical outcomes. For several reasons, incorrect liquid medication dosages are often taken by patients. Liquid medication dosages are typically measured by pouring the medication into a tea spoon or small container prior to taking the medication. This manner of dosage measurement is prone to inaccuracy and can result in wasted medication and unpleasant messes due to spills during measurement. Further, the amount of liquid medication remaining in a container cannot be easily determined, unlike solid medications wherein the patient can count the number of pills present, and thus the patient can run out of medication, resulting in missed or skipped medication dosages. Additionally, patients who must take numerous medications on a regular basis can easily loose track of the time at which a particular medication was most recently taken, resulting in omission by the patient of required dosages or exceeding the dosage requirement. Frequently, the timing requirements vary for dosages of different medications and further lead to patient confusion and error in taking the different medications at correct time intervals.
Accordingly, there is a need for a liquid medication dispenser which alerts patients of the correct time intervals for taking liquid medications, which keeps track of and displays the number of dosages of liquid medication taken, and which quickly, consistently and accurately measures and dispenses dosages of liquid medication. The present invention satisfies these needs, as well as others, and generally overcomes the deficiencies found in the background art.